I have to apologize beforehand for my less thorough post today. The family and I took our first ever trip to Victoria today and the trip took up 14 hours of our day. After we got home, it took me another hour to get the kids settled down for bedtime. That left me little time to compose this post about my lunch today at Blue Fox Cafe in Victoria.

My wife, kids, and I have never been to Victoria before, so when it came time to find a restaurant for lunch, we had to rely on the urbanspoon mobile app. Since we also had my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, her daughter, and a family friend with us on this trip, we tried to look for a casual, family friendly spot. The most popular restaurant on urbanspoon that fit our criteria was Blue Fox Cafe.

The restaurant was not that big and had a funky vibe to it. It’s interior was adorned with what my daughter thought were “Jackson Pollock-esque” paintings (among others) and an ecclectic mix of ornaments and decorations.

The servers we encountered were all very friendly and honest, giving us opinions on which items they liked or disliked on their menu. Following their recommendations, we ordered many items from the breakfast side of their menu as well as a few from the lunch section.

Both my wife and I had different versions of their ‘Egg Bennys’, which we were told we their most popular items. The version I had was called the Moroccan chicken eggs benedict.

What immediately endeared both my wife and I to Blue Fox Cafe’s eggs benedict was the fact that they used bagels in place of English muffins. My version came with a (cinnamon?) raisin bagel. The sweetness of the raisin worked really well the the spiced Moroccan chicken. And these two flavours also went well with the rich flavours of the runny yolk from the poached egg as well as the hollandaise sauce. I thought that the flavour combination in this dish was top notch. The textures of the components were also mostly well-executed. The eggs were perfectly poached, with the egg whites being fluffy and the yolks runny but thick. The texture of the bagel also worked well because they felt more substantial than the English muffin, while being easier to break apart both by a knife and by human teeth.

There was, however, one major flaw in the texture department: the chicken. The thick piece of chicken included in my Moroccan chicken benedict was way too overcooked. It was both hard to bite off and hard to chew. It was very dry and it would’ve been inedible if not for the moisture from the egg yolks and the hollandaise. Because they included big piece of chicken breast on both sets of eggs benedict in my order, it was hard for me to not notice their tough, dried-out textures.

Another component of the eggs benedict I ordered today were the potatoes. I liked them. They had a slightly sweet flavour that, like the sweetness of the raisins, worked extremely well with the other savory components.

Although the pieces of chicken were substantial and their overcooked toughness quite evident, they were not enough to change my opinions of the the dish. I still liked the flavours or the dish very much and I thought that the pleasant texture of the bagel made up for the unpleasantness of the thick and un-chewable chicken.

My wife ordered the Raising Hell (I forgot the name) eggs bendict.

Unlike the raisin bagel that came with my order, my wife’s order came with a plain bagel. My wife said that her plain bagel had a texture that was as enjoyable as my raisin bagel. Her eggs were also poached to textural perfection like mine and the avocados included on top of the eggs added a thick buttery textural contrast that was enjoyable. My wife said that the only thing that bothered her texture-wise was the chorizo. She said that they were as overcooked as the chicken in my dish and even harder to chew.

But like me, my wife was able to easily overlook the fact that the chorizo was overcooked because every other texture and flavour was so good. The chorizo was spicy enough and flavourful enough; the egg yolks were rich enough; the hollandaise sauce was bright enough; the tomatoes tangy enough; and the potatoes sweet enough. My wife thought that her eggs benedict was a very tasty dish.

We also had an order of the oranges del sol (??I forgot the name) French toast.

This dish also came highly recommended by our server. It came with pecans, cream cheese, oranges, and syrup. I have to say that this dish was a little disappointing because when I read it’s description on the menu, I had imagined it to taste like Crepe Suzette. It instead tasted like cream cheese, pecans, and sweet syrup with unsweet oranges on top. Each component felt like it was distinct and unconnected to the rest of the components. Further, I thought that the cream cheese was so creamy and thick and it dulled the flavours of the rest of the components. It made the pecans flavourless, the syrup not that sweet, and the orange canned-orange-like. It made the French toast itself an afterthought, like it was tossed in just for the sake of it, instead of it being the main focus of the dish.

The French toast itself was actually pretty well made and I regretted that I did not order plain French toast like my sister-in-law did.

If I had only ordered the French toast plain, I would be singing it’s praises instead of panning it. Both my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law (who shared the dish with my sister-in-law) thought that the French toast was very well made.

My sister-in-law and mother-in-law also shared the Moroccan chicken sandwich.

The Moroccan chicken sandwich arrived much later than my Moroccan chicken eggs benedict, so I had time to warn them that the chicken might be overdone. When the dish came and my mother-in-law took her first bite of it, she told me that the chicken in her sandwich was not overdone at all. Although I don’t think you can ever call a fully-cooked chicken breast tender, it was nonetheless juicy and easy to bite through. My mother-in-law also liked the spices used on the Moroccan chicken and commented that she liked the sandwich a lot.

She also thought that the fries included with her dish was expertly made. Since fries were included in four of the dishes we ordered today, each individual person in our party was able to try them. And every single person loved their fries. The had a very crispy twice or thrice fired skin along with a mushy, mashed-potato like center. Not only was the skin crispy, it was also teeth-bouncingly elastic. I’ve never experienced this texture in a French fry and I have to say that it really worked. Really, It worked.

Another dish that also had fries included was the Santa Fe chicken sandwich that our family friend had.

Like my mother-in-law, our family friend also liked her sandwich a lot. Although she usually tries to avoid any spicy dish, she actually liked the spiciness of the piece of chicken in her sandwich today. She said that the spiciness was not only tolerable, but actually very enjoyable.

Yet another dish that came with their amazing fries was my son’s plain burger.

My son really liked it. He finished the entire patty (which was quite substantial) along with a over 50% of the fries.

My daughter and niece shared the quesadilla.

The two of them were so busy talking to each other that they did not respond to my repeated requests on their thoughts about their dish. I can only assume that they liked it. They finished the dish really quickly and did not make one single complaint about any component of their dish. It looked like they were really enjoying the dish while they were eating it – but then again they might just be enjoying each other’s company.

It’s always nice to take a trip with family and friends every once in a while. You get to catch up on what they’ve been up to while sharing new experiences with them. The meal we had today at Blue Fox Cafe was one of those new, enjoyable experiences that made the trip that much better. Every one of us enjoyed our lunch today and each one of us left the restaurant extremely satisfied and with a smile on our faces. The food we had wasn’t perfect, but it was very good and very enjoyable…it also turned out to be the only proper meal we had today. We ended up having to pick-up some McDee’s on our way to catching a late ferry back to the mainland.

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About dontcallmeafoodblogger

Just like most people can think of a song that perfectly fits the mood of a moment or a particular situation, I often think about meals or dishes that would be perfect for a specific moment. Most of my thoughts are about food and I think in terms of food. To me, food is much more than something you ingest, desire, crave, or dislike. It relates to culture, to family, to politics, and to every other aspect of my life. I admit I might be a little obsessed and maybe even addicted to food, but I've been afflicted all my life. I was born with it and with this outlet for my food thoughts, I'll have a chance to run wild with it.

One Response to Food, Family, and Fun

Thanks for your review. While visiting Canada last month we stopped in to the blue fox. My sister raved about it and said we HAD to try it. I have to disagree with your assessment of the oranges del sol French toast. I actually found your blog as I was trying to find the recipe for this dish. I thought the dish was amazing! So amazing that I am at home in California dreaming of it as I am too far away to hop in the car and get me some, lol. So I’m trying to recreate it at home. Maybe you had it on an “off” day? As for me I’m dreamin of it and hope I can recreate it as I won’t be in Canada any time soon. Cheers.